Event ID 3 — Diff Area Integrity

Updated: January 27, 2011

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

The Diff Area is the storage space that Shadow Copies of Shared Folders allocates on a volume for maintaining the snapshots of the contents of shared folders. A snapshot is a block-level set of information that represents the differences between the current content and content from a previous point in time. The integrity of existing and new snapshots depends on the integrity of the Diff Area.

Event Details

Product:

Windows Operating System

ID:

3

Source:

VolSnap

Version:

6.0

Symbolic Name:

VS_PIN_DIFF_AREA_FAILED

Message:

The shadow copy of volume %2 could not lock down the location of the diff area file on volume %3.

Resolve

Restart the computer or move the Diff Area to a different volume

To resolve this error condition, you must first try restarting the computer and creating a new shadow copy of the volume. Restarting the computer will release all dependencies that the volume where the Diff Area is stored may have (for example, opened handles). If the new shadow copy cannot be successfully created after restarting the computer, then you need to move the Diff Area to a different volume.

To perform these procedures, you must have membership in Administrators, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

Restart the computer and create a new shadow copy

To restart the computer and create a new shadow copy:

When practical, restart the computer.

When the computer has finished restarting, click Start, and then click Computer.

Right-click any of the volumes listed, and then click Configure Shadow Copies. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.

Click the volume for which the shadow copy failed, and then click Create Now.

Note: Depending on the size of the volume and the number of changes that have occurred since the last shadow copy, creating the new shadow copy can take a few seconds or several minutes.

The Diff Area is working correctly again if you did not receive an error and the new shadow copy is listed under Shadow copies of selected volume. If you receive an error, you need to move the Diff Area to a different volume.

Move the Diff Area to a different volume

To move the Diff Area to a different volume:

Caution: When you change the location of the Diff Area, all previous shadow copies are deleted. Follow this procedure only if you were not able to create a new shadow copy after restarting the computer.

Click Start, and then click Computer.

Right-click any of the volumes listed, and then click Configure Shadow Copies. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.

Click the volume for which the shadow copy failed, and then click Settings.

Note: If shadow copies of the volume are enabled, you must first disable them by clicking the volume, and the clicking Disable.

Set the Diff Area to a different volume by selecting a volume from the drop-down list under Storage area, and then click OK.

Verify that the volume is still selected, and click Enable. If you are asked to confirm that you want to enable shadow copies, click Yes.

Click OK to exit.

Verify

The Diff Area is working correctly if a new shadow copy can be successfully created.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in Administrators, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To create a new shadow copy:

Click Start, and then click Computer.

Right-click any of the volumes listed, and then click Configure Shadow Copies. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.

Click the volume that you want to create a new shadow copy of, and then click Create Now. The Diff Area is working correctly if the new shadow copy is listed under Shadow copies of selected volume.

Note: Depending on the size of the volume and the number of changes that have occurred since the last shadow copy, creating the new shadow copy can take a few seconds or several minutes.